Migraine: temperament and character.

The personality profile of 26 adult migraine patients from a large Swedish family with migraine and 87 controls were studied by means of Cloninger's seven-factor model of Temperament and Character (TCI; Temperament and Character Inventory). For the diagnosis of migraine, a questionnaire, slightly modified to fit the criteria according to the AD HOC committee on the classification of headaches of the International Headache Society, was used. The TCI assesses four dimensions of temperament, including novelty-seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (P), and three dimensions of character, including self-directedness (SD), co-operativeness (C) and self-transcendence (ST). Psychiatric morbidity did not differ between this family and the general population. One migraine patient had double depression (dysthymia and recurrent depression) and one had a personality disorder. No significant difference could be found in the higher order dimensions of temperament (NS, HA, RD and P) and character (SD, C and ST) between migraine patients and controls. However, on the subscale level, NS showed a slightly higher average in NS1 (exploratory excitability) and a significantly higher (p = 0.0448) average in NS2 (impulsivity) in migraine patients compared to controls. Somatic anxiety has been shown to be positively correlated with NS, and especially impulsivity. Our results showed a tendency of this personality profile, and may suggest an association between migraine and somatic anxiety.

Season of birth variations in the temperament and character inventory of personality in a general population.

BACKGROUND: Since several studies show season of birth variations in morbidity, suicidal behavior and CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) monoamine metabolites, we investigated season of birth variations in personality in the population. METHODS: We analyzed by multiple logistic regressions the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) for 2,130 individuals taking part in the Betula prospective random cohort study of Umeå, Sweden. RESULTS: The personality dimensions were correlated significantly with age and gender. We stratified the data according to age, gender and the season of TCI measurement. By the median split in each stratum, a high-value group and a low-value group were obtained for each of the personality dimensions. Those born during February to April were significantly more likely than those born during October to January to have high NS (novelty seeking) among women, particularly the subscale NS2 (impulsiveness vs. reflection), and to have high PS (persistence) among men. Temperament profiles also showed season of birth variations. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the associations in the literature between personality and the monoamines serotonin and dopamine, and suggest that our results are compatible with a hypothesis of season of birth variation in the monoamine turnover. The personality traits are likely to be influenced by several genetic and environmental factors, one of them being the season of birth.

Swedish normative data on personality using the Temperament and Character Inventory.

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a self-report personality questionnaire based on Cloninger's psychobiological model of personality, which accounts for both normal and abnormal variation in the two major components of personality, temperament and character. Normative data for the Swedish TCI based on a representative Swedish sample of 1,300 adults are presented, and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire are discussed. The structure of the Swedish version replicates the American version well for the means, distribution of scores, and relationships within the between scales and subscales. Further, the Swedish inventory had a reliable factor structure and test-retest performance. The results of this study confirm the theory of temperament and character as a seven-factor model of personality.

A major SNP haplotype of the arginine vasopressin 1B receptor protects against recurrent major depression.

Increasing amounts of data suggest that affective disorders might be related to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, one of the stress-response systems. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) influences several symptoms, relevant to affective disorders, notable memory processes, pain sensitivity, synchronization of biological rhythms and the timing and quality of REM sleep. We examined whether genetic variations in the AVP receptor 1b gene (AVPR1b) could be associated with increased susceptibility to affective disorders using a gene-based association analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Five SNPs were identified in AVPR1b and genotyped in two well-diagnosed samples of patients with recurrent major depression and matched controls. In the Swedish sample, we observed significant allele (P=0.02) and genotype (P=0.01) association with SNP AVPR1b-s3, and in the Belgian sample, a borderline significant association with SNP AVPR1b-s5 (P=0.04). In both patient-control samples, the haplotype defined by alleles A-T-C-A-G for the AVPR1b-s SNPs s1-s2-s3-s4-s5 was significantly over-represented in controls compared to patients. Our data support a protective effect of this major haplotype for recurrent major depression.